If you haven’t lived under a rock during the past 5 years, we’re sure you’ve witnessed the amazing growth of pole dancing studios. What used to be seen as an erotic pursuit is now a full-fledged exercise and fitness movement. Many smart fitness entrepreneurs saw an opportunity with pole dancing fitness classes and jumped on the bandwagon and opened up businesses. If you were one of those smart initial movers and shakers in the pole dancing community, good work. If you’re just getting into the game now, no worries. The best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago. The next best time is today.

1. Create Partnerships with Local Yoga Studios

What better way to boost your current membership numbers than cross-pollinate with another popular fitness movement; yoga. Reach out to yoga studios in your area and develop a discounted dual-membership system. A simple example of this type of partnership would be that students that are a member of one studio get a discounted membership at the other studio.

If you use movable poles at your studio, you could even hold a bi-weekly pole dancing clinic at the yoga studio. This is a great way to give yoga students an idea of what pole dancing is all about. Should you create enough interest with your clinic, you’ll be well on your way to getting some new pole dancing students. However, to be fair, make sure you allow the yoga studio to give weekly demonstrations/clinics at your facility as well. Remember, a true partnership is all about reciprocity.

2. Focus Your Marketing Dollars on College Students

As we’ve been saying for years, college students are the untapped market for fitness businesses. Have your graphic designer whip up a few fun posters that you can post at the local university. What college girl doesn’t want to have a fun way to become a more graceful dancer, as well as get rock hard thighs and glutes. You might want to even offer a student discount. College students are a frugal bunch. However, if you can get a handful of new college members, you’ll still see nice financial gains.

3. Sell on the Fitness Benefits

Let’s be honest, when most people think of pole dancing, they aren’t thinking about the fitness benefits. This gives you a great marketing leverage point. Make sure to include the health benefits in all your marketing materials. Talk about the caloric burn during a 30-minute pole dancing class and toss in some info about how pole dancing gives you rock hard abs (like the girl to the left!) Show people that pole dancing is more than just swinging around a pole, it’s about achieving that tone body they’ve been looking for.

Also, as the title says, you’re going to need to SELL your pole dancing studio to clients. Most fitness businesses seem to think that from the second that they open their doors they’re going to have a line of people out the door trying to get inside and becoming a paying member. Wrong! You’re going to need to sell, sell and sell some more. Get used to the idea that selling isn’t a bad thing. It’s part of daily life. You were “sold” the cereal that you purchased at the store and the latte that you bought at Starbucks on your way to work. Sales is a part of life. Learn not to hate it and it will make running a pole dancing fitness studio a much more enjoyable experience.

4. Start Hosting Bachelorette Parties

One thing we’ve seen with the pole dancing studios we’ve worked with is that they’ve all started hosting bachelorette parties. Women are constantly looking for something fun to add into the usual bachelorette party routine of dinner, drinks, and nightclubbing. What better than some pole dancing fun?!? Start by designing a class that teaches start-to-finish routines. If you’ve only got two hours with the ladies, make sure they’re having fun and feel like they’ve accomplished something when it’s all over. Give them a good time and a few fun moves they can bring home to show their significant other when the bachelorette party is over.

Though pole dancing has become more popular in the last five years, there’s still a lot of room for growth in this sector. If you’re the owner of a pole dancing studio, you’ve got one HUGE benefit on your side…your business is AMAZINGLY FUN! It’s not like you’re trying to get people to do sit-ups and crunches all day; they get a amazing workout and learn some fun moves that they can show off back at home. Get on it and start boosting your membership today!